


Unexpected Adventure

by Morggle22



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Glee
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Faberry, Nobody is afraid to be gay, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:28:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28682565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morggle22/pseuds/Morggle22
Summary: AU Skyrim universe fic. Instant "enemies" have to work together to finish an epic quest, will they kill each other or will their relationship bloom into something more?
Relationships: Rachel Berry/Quinn Fabray
Comments: 18
Kudos: 25





	1. Dungeons and Dragons

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Welcome to my first fic. I'm quite nervous. Any and all feedback is appreciated. I got this idea while playing Skyrim after finishing a really good Faberry fic (shout out to forforever19, I absolutely am in love with their stories) Anyways, enjoy!

Being dragged out of the Dragonsreach dungeon and up to the Jarl’s quarters was about as fun as watching a group of rabid skeevers eat your dog, or at least that’s the closest thing Quinn could liken it to. It was also extremely embarrassing; being marched past all the guards and servants while her arms are tied behind her back, unable to stand up straight because of the jackass guard forcing her arms up behind her, body nearly bent in half to keep the pressure off her shoulders. 

It isn’t until she feels a pinch on her backside, kicking backward toward the guard, nailing him right in the snowberries, that she realizes another prisoner is being dragged along with her. She hears a snicker from the girl when the guard doubles over in pain, as he falls to the floor on his knees, he lets go of her wrists momentarily and she spins around quickly to catch a glimpse of the other girl, who tipped her face up to meet Quinn’s gaze. 

She is clearly a Bosmer, with her pointed ears, dark eyes, and light brown skin. She seems short, but the angle of her body is in a similar position as Quinn’s just was, so it is difficult to tell just how short she is. She has dark hair to match her eyes, the left half of her head in close to the scalp braids, the other down, flowing past her shoulder blades. Her war paint done in three red spikes above her left eyebrow, pointing toward her hairline. There was a narrow scar stretching diagonally from the inside corner of her right eye, to the underside of her right ear, like the war path of an errant tear. 

Quinn was too preoccupied with taking in the girl’s appearance that she forgot to try and run. Before she knew it, another set of hands grasped her restraints and hoisted her arms back up into the air. The pain seared in her shoulders as she was caught off guard by the action. 

“Think you’re funny, do you? We don’t take kindly to outbursts of violence around here, another one of those and you can forget all about ever getting out of here!” The guard holding her restraints bellowed into her ear. He jerked her harshly, spinning her back in the opposite direction, and started leading her down the corridor again. “I don’t get why a murderer like you should even get the chance to be freed anyway. Nothing but chaurus sludge, you are.” 

Quinn was unbothered by the remark, she had been called far worse things by her father all through her childhood. She let herself continue to be lead through the hall without a word or another outburst. He had said that she had a possibility of getting out of here, so she would cooperate, at least for now. 

They get to the end of the corridor and she is shoved face first into the door before the guard reaches around to open it. Once it’s swung open, they are lead past a long table and Quinn realizes they have been brought to the Jarl’s throne. She takes the couple steps onto the platform and is shoved to her knees. She hears the other prisoner hit the ground to her right and glances that way briefly. The girl appears to be smirking slightly, even as she winces at the force of her knees hitting the floor, and she can’t for the life of her figure out why, when faced with punishment by the Jarl, she would be in any way amused. 

The Jarl must have noticed the smirk too as he spoke up then. “What in Talos’ name are you smiling about, dirty thief?” 

“Oh... Um, well it looks like someone carved a tiny... uh, appendage into the floor just here.” The girl shifted her knee forward in a point. “I just thought it was kind of funny is all.” 

The Jarl scoffed and glared at the elf. “You do realize your life lies in my hands, don’t you thief? Eyes up! You are not permitted to smile while you are in my presence, I should send you both back to the dungeon and forget all about the offer I was about to extend to the two of you!” 

Quinn’s head shot up, “Jarl Balgruuf, please, I reprove any transgressions of this elf girl. I’ll do whatever it is, don’t send me back to the dungeon with her. I swear, your Greatness, I didn’t mean to kill that man in the Bannered Mare. It was just a silly, drunken brawl. I didn’t think I’d even hit him that hard until he didn’t get back up. Ask Hulda! Ask Ysolda! They saw, they know it was an acci-” 

“Shut up! You will not speak again until it is time for you to accept or reject my offer, otherwise you will be dragged back to your cell by your pretty blonde hair.” The Jarl spoke firmly. He waited a moment for any objections before he continued speaking. “Now, as is clear, I have a proposition for the two of you. Should you accept, you will be released henceforth to begin your journey. If rejected, by either of you, both of you will be brought back to your cells to await your hearings. As I’m sure you both know, your crimes are indeed punishable by execution, and the hearings will determine the severity of your punishments.” 

Quinn noticed out of the corner of her eye, the elf girl squirm under the gaze of the Jarl at his last words. She wondered if she was uncomfortable with the prospect of death, or of the rest of her life being lived in a small wet cell. She also had a fleeting wonder of if the girl's knees ached as hers did pressed against the hard wood grain they knelt upon. She forced her focus back to the Jarl as he continued speaking. 

“Now, we have tried to keep this hushed, but this city is awash with rumor and gossip, so I’m sure you both have heard by now of the dragons return to Skyrim?” A small gasp came from the girl beside her. “Or perhaps not. I’d have assumed you thieves and sneaks would have caught wind of it by now, seeing as you always seem to be hiding in the most convenient places to overhear such things. Nevertheless, the dragons of old have started rising from their graves, one attacked and subsequently decimated Helgen not three days ago. Another dragon was spotted nearby Whiterun a day later, which was swiftly destroyed by Irileth and her troops.” 

He paused a moment to let them take it all in, his face suddenly shifted from hard, to worn and weary, as though the weight of his admission had finally hit him square in the chest. Quinn felt a trickle of uneasiness run through her. She glanced briefly to the girl beside her who was wearing an expression which she was sure resembled her own. The other girl’s eyes met hers momentarily and a shiver ran down her spine at the emotions that shown through her dark brown eyes. They both looked away as the Jarl started speaking again. 

“Now, more than ever, even in the midst of this ridiculous civil war, we must band together as one to defend Skyrim from this threat. Which is why it has been decided that the two of you, chosen through careful consideration by myself and my advisors, will be the ones to discover the location of two very important things. The first of which is sure to aid in the fight against these foul beasts which wreak havoc on our blessed lands. The second, an item which many have sought out in times such as these to guide our hands to victory.” He took pause to look deeply into the eyes of first Quinn, then the elven girl. “First, you will work together to locate the last remaining Dragonborn. Once found you will deliver them safely to the Greybreads to train in the words of power. While the Dragonborn grows strong, the second part of your journey will begin. You must collect an Elder Scroll, which is sure to contain the knowledge needed to defeat this threat against us once again. The prophesies written within the Scrolls have never once proved false, we will call upon the divine's true power in the words written therein, and we will destroy this threat upon Skyrim once and for all. What say you, murderess Quinn, thief Rachel? Will you protect our home?” 

She was caught off guard for a moment at the peculiarity of the other girl’s name... Rachel. The moment passed as the words spoken sunk truer into her mind. The Jarl wanted them to find an Elder Scroll? Was he completely soft in the head? How were they supposed to find one of the most elusive texts in the whole of the world? How was she supposed to work alongside that elf, that thief, Rachel, to discover the location of a bloody Elder Scroll? Not to mention find a whole person who happened to be the last Dragonborn: how were they even supposed to know who they were looking for? The Jarl hadn’t given a name or any clues whatsoever. 

She was broken from her inner musings by the small voice of Rachel beside her. “Jarl Balgruuf, uhm... how exactly are we to find an Elder Scroll, or this Dragonborn person, you know, if we decide to help?” 

“If I knew the location of the Scroll, or how to go about locating the child, I would not be enlisting the help of criminals. Now answer or it’s back to the dungeon.” 

“Child?” Rachel breathed out the one worded question. Another voice spoke up before the Jarl had the chance to answer however. 

“I’ll do it.” Quinn said with determination in her voice. “We-” She looked over at Rachel with a question in her eyes. “We will find the Dragonborn and the Elder Scroll.” 

A pained expression crossed Rachel’s face before she turned back to the Jarl and nodded in agreement. “Yes, we’ll find them, Jarl Balgruuf.” 

“Very well then. Guards, remove their restraints and lead them through to the armory to be fitted with proper gear.” The Jarl looked to the guards behind them, still kneeling on the hard wooden floor. “Don’t forget ladies, the fate of Skyrim rests in your hands now. Do not let us down.” 

Quinn felt the ties on her wrists fall away and she swung her arms to the front of her body, rubbing gently at the deep red marks left by the harsh rope. She felt a hand grasp her bicep and hoist her off the floor. 

“I can stand by myself, thanks!” She spat at the guard and shrugged her arm out of his grip. He was a tall Khajiit with gray stripes across his pale tan fur. He gave her a cold glare as she spun on her heel and started walking in the direction the other guard was leading Rachel. 

The room where they were led was lined wall to wall with weapon and armor racks. There was a locked glass case in the middle of the room that appeared to hold enchanted jewelry and daggers. They walked over to the armor racks first and began shifting through to fit them both. Quinn found her items fairly quickly and headed towards the weapons on the other side of the room. 

Rachel let out a frustrated huff and roughly shoved armor out of her way. She appeared to be having a difficult time locating a chest piece that would fit her tiny frame. Quinn chuckled lightly under her breath at her growing indignance. She pinched her face into what Quinn could only assume was supposed to be intimidating and nearly growled, “There’s no need to be rude, not all of us can be average Nord stock.” 

Quinn scoffed and shook her head. “And not all of us can be tiny, elven thieves.” She strode over to the other side of the armor rack from Rachel and grabbed a child sized chest plate and threw it to her. “If you looked for half a second before getting all up in arms, you’d have seen the baby section over here.” 

“Yeah? Well at least I didn’t murder a man! That is far worse than stealing Balgruufs family heirloom!” Rachel snapped at her. Quinn stood with her mouth agape for a beat. 

“I’m sorry, did you just say you stole from the Jarl? And they didn’t kill you on the spot? What kind of sneaky, Ratway shit did you do to get out of that one?” Quinn looked at her with a half impressed smirk on her face. 

“They-” Rachel cleared her throat “They thought I was one of the street orphans so they didn’t kill me right away.” She looked away with a crimson hue on her cheeks. 

Quinn lurched forward as a bellowing laugh rocked through her body. “That is the most embarrassing, thing I’ve ever heard! Does that kind of thing happen to you often tiny?” She shook with muffled giggles as Rachel just turned away and began sifting through the helmets, a red hue now covering her cheeks. 

Quinn made her way back over to the weapon rack and began pawing through the warhammers. She was about to grab the glass hammer when the guard beside her slapped her hand away. “You won't be taking anything that valuable on this little escapade of yours, blondie. Too expensive for it to be left out there in the wilderness where you’re going to die and turn to bones.” 

She glowers at him but reaches for the nearby steel warhammer and slings it over her shoulder. She grabbed a nordic dagger and slid it into her thigh strap before heading to the middle of the room where the glass case stood. 

“Don’t suppose we get to have any of this huh?” she asked while pointing into the case. 

The guard just scowled at her and nodded to the door, insinuating it was time for her to exit the room. She took a look back at Rachel who was deciding between two bows, and stepped back into the main hall. A minute later the guard who had been watching Rachel stepped into the doorway. 

“Hjork, where’s the girl?” The guard turned to look at his companion. 

“She needed to try on her chest plate to make sure it fit properly. I wanted to give her some privacy. She’s a lady you know?” Not three seconds later, Rachel squeezed past the guard, fully dressed in her new armor with an elven bow and quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder. 

“All ready Quinn? We should get this show on the road, don’t you think?” The girl smiled at her in an unnerving way. She just nodded and followed Rachel towards the large doors at the end of the grand hall. Rachel nearly skipped down the stairs before the double doors, humming softly as she went. Quinn had to take a few steps at a time to keep up with her swift gait. 

“Rachel, this isn’t a race. We don’t even know where we’re supposed to go yet.” She called after the elf. “Can you just wait up for a second? Where’s the fire?” She watched as Rachel quickly slipped through the double doors into the night air. She followed as close behind as she could and they continued over the wooden walk and down the first set of stairs. “How do you even move so fast on such teeny tiny legs” 

Rachel stopped abruptly and spun on her heel; Quinn nearly bowling her over before skidding to a halt inches away from her. She was about to ask what the hell that was all about when Rachel shoved something into her hand, turned sharply around, and continued her power walk down the steps. 

Quinn kept her hand squeezed shut and rushed after Rachel again. Whatever it was that the girl had given her felt hard and cold, shaped like some sort of box with what seemed to be a thin metal chain wrapped around it, the box had many bumps and edges, and she thought she felt something circular and smooth pressed against the underside. She didn’t dare open her hand yet, so she pushed her hand into her waist pouch and deposited the item there. Rachel obviously didn’t want anyone else to see the thing, so she would save it for when they were alone and further away from Dragonsreach. They continued on into the darkened streets of Whiterun.


	2. Thistle and Weeds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey folks! Thank you for the comments on chapter one!  
> I wanted to start by saying I'm planning on trying to update once a week on Sundays. Also I wanted to mention I will be taking some creative liberties with the places and people within Skyrim. I may add locations and characters as they become necessary to the story.  
> Thanks for reading!  
> ~Mac

Rachel led them through the streets quickly, around the back of buildings and away from the torch lit walking paths. She stopped, knee deep in the weeds behind Ysolda’s House, at a look out in the city walls. She turned to look at Quinn who had stopped a few feet from her and they just stared at each other for a moment; Rachel was the first to break their silence. 

“I think we should start researching right away, maybe we should start at the Temple of Kynareth, healers speak to people every day, I’m sure they pick up good information along the way. They must have a decent library to sift through as well, you know all the most important information has been written down through the Eras. Well of course you know that, I mean we are searching for an Elder Scroll here which clearly is the most important information considering our quest, don’t you think?” She paused briefly to suck in a deep breath as an idea swept into her mind, the smile on her face growing wider. “Oh! Or we could start by sneaking into the Grey-Mane's and Battle-Born's houses! They would, without a doubt have some kind of information on their bookshelves or in their journals, not to mention more than a couple little trinkets to collect. Speaking of which, did you look at what I found for you? I have a feeling it will be quite beneficial during our adventure.” She finally stopped speaking and beamed at Quinn with wide eyes. 

Quinn just stared at her for a few seconds before opening her mouth and immediately closing it again. Rachel knew this look; she had seen it on the face of nearly every person she’s ever had a conversation with. Her smile began to falter as the moments passed without a response from Quinn. Finally, when she was about to start apologizing for her rant, Quinn started laughing. 

“We just got of prison, Rachel. I don’t care what you’re doing, but I’m going to go have a few ales and enjoy my first night of freedom in three weeks. I suggest you join me though because you’re clearly pretty worked up right now. Unless that’s how you always act, which would make this journey far less enjoyable than it already is.” 

Rachel looked away from Quinn’s face, dropping her gaze to the tangles of weeds on the ground between their feet. She scuffed the toe of her shoe in the dirt. “I can assure you that I will make this adventure quite pleasurable. I merely got excited at the prospect of this little treasure hunt of sorts. And while I’ve never been on the hunt for a person, I’m very much-” Quinn held her hand up to stop Rachel’s second rant. 

“Look, I didn’t mean to upset you, alright, Tiny? Let's just go have an ale and relax before we start this ridiculous adventure, ok?” Rachel’s eyes shot back up to meet her gaze. 

“I really do think we need to start planning, Quinn. There is much to be said about being prepared for every possible scenario, and the sooner we start planning, the sooner we can get going.” Quinn gave her an irritated glare. 

“Do I have to spell it out for you? I am going to have a couple of drinks and relax after being in a fucking dungeon for the past three weeks. And I’m going whether you come with me or not, so you might as well tag along.” Rachel scrunched her face into the best scowl she could muster. 

“I am not going to be inhibiting my mind and hindering my chances of succeeding. Clearly you are going to be impossible to work with and I’d like to spend as little free time as I can on this quest with you.” Rachel huffed and turned away from the other girl. 

Quinn threw her hands up in exasperation, “Fine, go do what you want! I’ll be in the Bannered Mare, catching up with my friends if you change your mind. Meet you back here at daybreak. Later, crazy.” With that, Quinn started walking off in the direction of the tavern. 

Rachel glowered in her direction until she rounded the corner and could no longer be seen. When she was finally far enough away, she let out a frustrated cry and stomped her foot. She would show her, she would find good information tonight. And she was most definitely breaking into the House of Grey-Mane and the Battle-Born's place. 

\--- 

As Quinn stepped into the Bannered Mare, the whole tavern went silent. She paused for a beat, wondering if they were going to immediately kick her ass back onto the street for what happened just three weeks ago. She was about to turn and run out the way she came when she heard a voice she knew all too well. 

“Quinn, you’re back! Hulda! Come out here, Quinn’s back!” Ysolda shouted into the open door to the kitchen. “Quinn, honey, we thought the next time we’d see you was on the end of the executioner's blade. Get over here so I can hug you and get you a nice ale!” 

Quinn strode forward into Ysolda’s outstretched arms and hugged her old friend, a warm smile spread across her face. She looked up just as Hulda was coming through the door from the kitchen, slinging a towel over her shoulder as she walked toward her. 

“Goodness child, you look like a drauger, all skin and bones! Did they not feed you these past weeks? I’ll take this up with the Jarl first thing in the morning, they were clearly starving you in there. Come here and let me hug you and then I’ll go fetch you a nice horkerloaf sandwich dear.” She didn't give Quinn a chance to disentangle herself from Ysolda before she wrapped her arms tightly around both of them, squeezing tight. 

After rocking the three of them side to side for a moment, Hulda let them go, patted Quinn on the cheek, turned, and strode back into the kitchen. 

“Well then, looks like not a thing has changed since I left.” Quinn laughed jovially as she finally let go of Ysolda and made her way to an open stool at the bar. She watched the other woman walked to the cabinet behind it and reached into the back of the top shelf, pulling out a distinct blue bottle of Black-Briar Reserve. She uncorked it and slid it across the tabletop and into Quinn’s open hand. Her smile widened as she brought the bottle to her lips and tipped it back. 

“Actually, there’s been a couple changes, didn’t you notice the new bard there?” She pointed toward a tall orc holding a lute by the fire. “His name is Puck and he’s fresh from the Bard’s College in Solitude, leagues better than Mikael too. He showed up a week ago and scared him away, told him this was his place now and to piss off before he decided to bloody him up. The kid ran away with his tail between his legs, haven’t seen him since.” Ysolda barked out a laugh. “Thing is, he pretends to be all tough and badass, but you should’ve seen him the other day with that orphan that wanders about town, Lucia. She had him eating right out of the palm of her hand, riding up on his shoulders through the market. He told me that night, if he had a home of his own here in Whiterun, he would adopt her on the spot.” 

Quinn looked over at the bard, a gentle smile on her lips; he had started playing a jovial rendition of Ragnar the Red, seemingly at the request of the old man sitting at his side, swaying back and forth in his chair. She smiled wider and turned back to Ysolda. Before she could comment on what she was just told, a beautiful Redguard woman was sliding a plate with a large horkerloaf sandwich in front of her. Just as quickly as she had arrived, she turned and walked straight back into the kitchen from which she came; Quinn’s eyes glued to her as she went. 

Quinn tore her eyes away once she was fully out of sight and whipped her head back around and cocked one eyebrow up at Ysolda. “Who the heck was that, and why didn’t you lead with her? She’s gorgeous.” 

Ysolda laughed boisterously and slapped her hand down on the counter. “I should have known, forever preoccupied with a pretty lady.” She shook her head and went to grab an ale for another patron sitting nearby. “Her name is Saadia, and she showed up just two days after they hauled you off to the dungeons. I think she’s hiding something though; hasn’t spoken a word about where she came from or anything personal.” 

“I don’t speak about my past either, what makes me any different?” Quinn replied, a slight sharpness to her tone. 

“Honey, I’ve known you were hiding something from the moment I first laid eyes on you, and you’re still hiding it from me despite having known you three years now.” Ysolda chuckled, “I actually enjoy trying to chip away at that stone you’ve rolled in front of your past. Keeps things interesting, you know?” 

It was then that Hulda sank down onto the stool next to Quinn and wrapped her arm around her shoulder. “Darling, the last time we saw you... Well, you were in a big mess of trouble. I’ve got to know, how are you not dead yet?” Her eyes bulged as she clearly realized she had actually said that out loud. “Of course, we didn’t want that to be the outcome! I petitioned the Jarl twice on your behalf. Oh my, is that what got you out? I knew I was quite a wordsmith but I didn’t know I could persuade someone as powerful as the Jarl!” 

Quinn choked out a laugh, trying to think of the best way to explain her current situation. How exactly had she avoided the inevitable execution? The Jarl had said he deliberated with his advisors for some time about who to choose for such a task. How had they concluded Rachel and herself were capable of achieving such a feat? Suddenly, a thought shoved its way into her mind like a swift blow to the head; the Jarl wanted them to fail. It was so obvious now that it was bouncing around her brain. His advisors were probably taking bets on which one of them would die first, or who would kill whom. 

She grimaced for a moment before giving the briefest explanation possible. “The Jarl chose two of us prisoners to assist in acquiring something very important for him.” 

They just stared at her for a moment in expectation. Hulda spoke first, “Well aren't you going to tell us what you’re out to find and who you’ll be traveling with?” 

“Uhm, I wasn’t planning on it, no. It’s not important, anyway, and my traveling companion is too irritating to be worth mentioning. What is important, however, is that I will be back in no time, free as can be and hopefully a bit heavier in coin if I can help it.” A wicked smirk crept across her cheeks. “Now, if you don’t mind ladies, I’ve got a lovely young woman to woo over in the kitchen there!” And with that, Quinn swiftly stood and marched into the kitchen with her head tipped up, a sly smile on her face. 

\--- 

It was nearing dawn when Rachel tumbled out the second-floor window of the House of Grey-Mane. It was certainly not the first time she’d had to get creative with her exit during a good scavenge, but it was definitely the most awkward landing. She found herself wedged upside-down between a very large bale of hay and the stone of the building; one arm pinned against the wall by her torso, the other dangling by her head. She let herself hang there for a couple seconds before using her free hand to claw at the hay in front of her until she was able to slowly shift her body back and forth, unwedging herself just enough to get her other arm free and maneuver herself to the side until her feet were firmly pressed back to the ground. 

She sunk to her knees in the grass behind a large thistle bush for a moment to catch her breath. Everything had been going just fine all night, until she got to the final bedroom on the second floor. She should have seen the signs throughout the rest of the house, of course they had a dog, small chewed sticks had been scattered around the main floor, a naked bone lay on the hearth, and there was a dish of water by the front door. She clearly had too much on her mind to pick up on these. 

She could not get her thoughts to wander far from the insufferable nord she would be spending the foreseeable future with. Clearly the girl was mentally unstable, she killed a man for Sovngarde’s sake! She also clearly had a drinking problem, with the way she had acted earlier, which did not sit well with Rachel at all; the way Quinn had gotten so angry when she was opposed to either of them going to the pub, it made her wrinkle her brow with frustration thinking back to a few hours before. She didn’t have to be so rude about it, they could have come to a reasonable compromise had she not stormed off in a huff. 

Rachel took a final calming breath, made sure her newly acquired treasures were secure in her hip pouch, and crawled out from behind the shrub she hid behind. She slunk around the back side of the building and started towards their (Quinn’s) decided meeting place. It would not be long now before the sun peeked its face past the tops of the mountains to awaken the city. 

\--- 

Quinn awoke with a jolt, stark naked in a room she couldn’t quite recognize, sitting upright in the bed so quickly that she saw stars. Beyond the stars though, she could see the faint light coming from the window to her left. 

She leapt out of the bed and quickly started gathering her clothes from around the room. Her underclothes and top were easily located strewn about the floor, but she couldn’t seem to find her pants anywhere. She started to panic briefly, had this woman stolen her pants? Did she know about the little metal box Rachel had given her? She hadn’t even had a chance to inspect the items yet. Were they so valuable that they were worth stealing from someone who’d just given you (what Quinn is sure was) a mind-blowing orgasm? 

No sooner had that thought crossed her mind when she spotted them. They were just barely visible, laying across the top of the armoire beside her. She let out the breath she didn’t even realize she had been holding and stretched up onto her tiptoes to snag the small triangle of material she could see peaking over the edge, dragging them down onto her own face before shaking them out and stepping into them. 

She patted her hip pouch to make sure her valuables were still nestled safely inside before dawning the rest of her clothes hurriedly. Peering out the window, she could see the sun was now fully above the mountains in the distance. She turned to rush out the door when she heard a voice behind her. 

“Where you running off to hot stuff? Morning sex is always the best you know.” Quinn looked back over her shoulder and gave Saadia an apologetic smile. 

“I’m off to start my grand adventure now babe. Don’t wait around for me or anything but, when I do get back, well...” She trailed off, smiling and giving her a quick wink, stepping through the threshold and tearing down the stairs before the other woman could even give her a parting goodbye. 

\--- 

The morning sun painted Quinn’s cheeks golden as she rounded the corner and headed towards their meeting spot, Rachel’s eyes widened for just a brief moment before narrowing into angry slits again. Quinn’s beaming smile faded quickly as she got close to Rachel. She was fuming, Quinn had said dawn, and it was now 7 minutes past dawn on the first morning as a team. 

“The sun has been up for 7 minutes, Quinn!” Rachel felt as though she couldn’t control the volume of her voice at the moment. “When you say things out loud, they become true, they are your word! Your word is a promise, and your word was dawn!” Quinn’s mouth opened as if she was going to say something in response before it snapped shut again as Rachel continued. “Why would you make me worry like that? For all I knew you’d gotten too drunk and passed out somewhere, or gotten seriously injured, or been arrested again! We are supposed to be a team now and that means keeping good on our promises!” 

Quinn’s eyes were wide and seemed to be searching her face for an answer she didn’t know the question to. “I’m... well I guess I’m sorry. I didn’t think a couple minutes would upset you so much, I was just a little distracted, I lost track of time and then I couldn’t uhm... find my pants.” Rachel noticed a slight blush paint itself across her cheeks as she looked down at the ground and back up again quickly. It dawned on her then what Quinn meant by that and her frustration spiked again. 

“You are impossible! Don’t let it happen again Quinn! If we don’t focus, the Jarl is going to toss us right back into the dungeon, and we’ll probably both be headed to the chopping block in a matter of weeks.” She took a moment to draw in a breath before she continued, calmer now. “Now, while you were off galivanting, I found some very interesting information on the desk of Olfrid Battle-Born.” 

She pulled a slightly torn letter from the pouch on her hip and held it out for Quinn to read. Rachel watched her eye flick back and forth over the page for a few moments. She saw a small smile creep across her lips before, unexpectedly, Quinn burst out laughing. 

“Rachel,” She gasped out between intermittent giggles, “This is a purchase agreement for Fire, Frost and Void salts. How the hell is this supposed to help us? What, are you gonna whip together some kind of potion that’ll somehow lead us straight to the Dragonborn?” 

“Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of making some quick coin so we can actually financially survive this little adventure and not starve to death. It’s not like you’ve come up with any kind of plans beyond losing your pants with some guy at the pub.” Quinn abruptly stopped giggling at the unmistakable bite in her voice that even Rachel didn’t quite understand. Quinn arched her eyebrow as her eyes narrowed, and Rachel felt her face burning. In that moment, she understood the meaning of the phrase ‘If looks could kill’. 

“Ok, first of all, there’s no way we would starve, there are wild animals all over Skyrim. Secondly, don’t pretend you have any idea what I was up to last night, I certainly wouldn’t be getting naked with a man, not that that is really any of your business.” Something in Rachel’s stomach flipped at those words. “And for your information, I definitely got more planning done for the actual reason we’re going on this trip than you seem to have. There are always new faces at the bar, and I made sure to talk to all of them. A couple even had some very interesting information about a man who seemingly talks nonsense about men who speak like dragons.” 

Rachel searched for the words to say until she finally blurted out, “I don’t eat animals.” She winced at her own words. That was all she had to say right now? She shook her head and tried again. “Well, what did you learn about this guy anyways? Do you think we should find him?” 

“I don’t know too much, but I do know where we can find him. Apparently, he hangs out in the Riften Ratway Warrens.” Quinn looked down at the piece of paper still in her hand, “But I suppose first we have a delivery to seize, considering you will most definitely starve to death if we don’t.” Her eyes flicked back up to meet Rachel’s, the hint of a smirk playing on her lips. 

Rachel wondered to herself how she hadn’t noticed the beautiful green and gold coloring in the girl’s eyes before now; perhaps it was because of how the sun shone bright on her face now that it had moved higher in the sky. She shook her head again and smiled wide at Quinn. “We should try to head them off at White River Watch, just east of the city. We’ll just have to take care of a couple bandits that hide out there first, but it will be the best vantage point. Plus, we’ll already be headed in the right direction to get to Riften, which I assume will be the easiest place to unload our loot, so we can go find this guy.” 

“How are we gonna get all the way to Riften without anything for you to eat?” Quinn asked her as she handed the letter back to Rachel. 

Rachel reached into her hip pouch, depositing the letter, and pulled out a handful of gold coins. Quinn’s eyes widened; a questioning look on her face. “That letter wasn’t the only thing I found tonight.” She winked at the blonde and dumped the coins back into the bag. “C’mon, let's go to the market and get some supplies. We only have a day and a half before that alchemy dealer gets here.” 

With that, she took hold of Quinn’s hand and dragged her out past the houses and onto the road, headed toward the already bustling marketplace.


	3. Blood And Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to let you guys know that the story is about to get a bit more dialog heavy as they start traveling. Also grabbed a bit of dialog from the actual bandits in the game. And this is your warning for mildly graphic battle scenes.  
> Enjoy!

“This is completely ridiculous, Rachel. It’s never gonna work.” Quinn looked down at the outfit Rachel had picked out for her, scowling. “Let’s just do this the old-fashioned way and charge him. He’s only one guy, we could take him easy.” 

“Of course, it’ll work! I bet those bandits haven’t seen a beautiful woman in months. All you have to do is flirt with him a little.” Rachel reached out to flatten a wrinkle in the fabric of the dress she was wearing and gave her a placating smile. 

“I don’t even know how to do that!” Quinn slapped her hand away and stepped back. “Why don’t you get all dressed up and I’ll take him out?” 

“Quinn, you’re clearly the more attractive of the pair of us, and you didn’t seem to have any problem flirting your way into some woman’s bed last night, now did you?” Rachel gave her a knowing smirk. “Besides, you probably wouldn’t even be able to sneak up on him without giving us both away; the way you lumber around here like an orc.” 

“I’ll have you know; I can be very graceful!” Quinn crossed her arms over her chest. “You know, you could always just let me use your bow and I wouldn’t even have to sneak.” 

Rachel snorted a laugh, “And have you shoot me by mistake? I don’t think so, Quinn. Just trust me, please?” Rachel stuck her bottom lip out in a pout, looking up at Quinn through her eyelashes. 

Quinn shook her head and let out a humorless chuckle, dropping her hands back to her sides. “I’ve barely known you a day, you expect me to just trust you?" She thought of all the people she'd known quite a long time, even her whole life, that she still didn’t trust. For starters, her parents, well... anyone who met them wouldn’t find them exactly trustworthy. Then there was her sister who’d abandoned her as soon as she was old enough to leave home. She did sort of trust the ladies at the Bannered Mare, they had treated her good the past three years that she’d known them, even still, she kept herself rather closed off with them; no need to give them a reason to abandon her as well. She was too lost in that thought to notice Rachel getting closer until she felt the other girl’s hand close around her wrist, making her flinch. 

“It’s ok, Quinn. Whatever it is, it’s ok.” Quinn idly wondered what her face had shown to betray her. 

“Fine.” Quinn removed her arm from Rachel’s grasp and steeling her features. “Fine, ok? I’ll do it. But as soon as the door guy is dead, I’m ripping this damned dress apart and we’re storming the hideout like normal adventurers.” 

Rachel clapped her hands together and smiled brightly. “Oh, perfect! You should put on your necklace; I think it would look lovely with the dress and it’ll keep you safer once we get inside.” 

Quinn looked at her, confused for a moment. “What necklace?” She was wracking her brain for any memory of a necklace the girl could be talking about. 

Rachel’s mouth dropped open in shock. “Are you seriously going to tell me you haven’t even looked at what I stole from the armory for you?” 

“Oh! I actually completely forgot about that.” Quinn gave her an apologetic smile. She lifted her hand to the back of her own neck, elbow up in the air, and scratched the skin there. “Well, I actually thought about it for a moment this morning when I thought Saadia stole my pants, but I was already late getting back to you, and it slipped my mind as soon as I got out the door.” She pulled the hem of her skirt up enough to get into the pouch on her hip. 

“Do you really still have your pants on under that dress right now?” Rachel laughed in amusement at her. “You are truly ridiculous.” 

“Listen, I haven’t worn a dress since my sister’s graduation from the Mage’s College when I was 12. I’m not about to go pantless for some stupid bandit.” She pulled a golden box with a necklace wrapped around it out of her pouch and dropped the skirt back into place. The necklace was cast in silver with a large, faceted emerald in the center. “What is this?” She examined the outside of the small box as she unwound the necklace’s chain from it. 

“You have a sister?” Rachel grabbed the necklace from Quinn and moved around her back to put it on for her. She pushed her short hair to the side and clasped it before moving back to face her front again. 

“Uh, yes I do; her name is Francine. She lives somewhere in Morrowind with her husband now. Got away from us as fast as she could after she graduated.” Quinn shook her head a bit and lifted the box in front of Rachel’s face. “Anyway, what is this?” She brought her other hand up to touch the pendant now around her neck. “And what does this do? It’s obviously enchanted.” 

“I’m not actually sure what’s even inside. I found it in the lining of the chest piece you found for me in the armory.” Rachel reached out to grab the box, but Quinn pulled it out of her reach before she could lock her fingers around it. 

“Uh-uh, you gave it to me, I get to open it.” She slowly unclasped the lock and pushed the lid up, revealing a rather large, pink stone nestled in the silk lining. “Oh, wow.” She lowered her hands to let Rachel look inside. 

Rachel’s eyes widened as she took in the sight before her. “Wow is right, Quinn, it’s beautiful! It must be worth a fortune.” Quinn saw her fingers twitch at her sides like she was going to reach for the box again. She quickly snapped the box closed, nearly clipping Rachel’s nose, and latched it again. 

“We’ll have to get it appraised while we’re in Riften. I know just the guy for the job. And then we can both decide the best course of action. It might just be too beautiful to sell, especially if it’s one of a kind.” She lifted her skirt again briefly to slip the box back into her hip pouch before giving Rachel an uneasy smile. “Alright, Rach. Let’s get this over with already, shall we?” 

Rachell smirked up at her. “Rach, huh? I think you’re starting to like me.” 

Quinn let out a short chuckle. “Let’s just go, ok? I’m dying to get out of this damned dress. Blue doesn’t even look good on me.” She turned to start walking but stopped abruptly and turned back around. “Hey, you never told me what this necklace does.” 

\--- 

They were crossing over the east bridge when Quinn spoke up. “Do you have to do that all the time? You’re driving me crazy and we’ve barley been walking 15 minutes.” 

Rachel looked over at her in confusion, “Do what? I’m just walking.” 

The taller girl scoffed, “Are you serious? The singing, Rachel, stop the singing already. It’s super fucking annoying and I’m trying to prepare myself.” 

“Music can actually help you meditate, you know. I can sing a battle song if that would be better suited for the occasion.” Rachel said, bending down quickly to snatch some red mountain flowers from beside the road. “♬We drink to our youth, and to days come and gone. For the age of-♬” 

“Rachel, just stop!” Quinn cut her off with an exasperated shout. She had stopped walking and brought her hands up to her face, scrubbing at her eyes with her palms. Rachel opened her mouth to speak again. “Can you just let me focus for one second, please?” 

The tone of her voice made Rachel snap her mouth shut and look down at her feet. She nodded curtly and whispered, “Sorry, Quinn.” Lacing her fingers together in front of her as they continued walking up the road. 

They walked several yards in silence before she heard Quinn sigh heavily beside her. “Don’t apologize; I’m sorry, ok? I’m just a little on edge right now.” Rachel shook her head and went to speak again but Quinn held her hand up to stop her. “No, really; I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you like that. I’m sure I’ll feel better once I’m out of this stupid dress.” She turned her head to look at Rachel and give her a small smile, which she returned after a couple steps. 

“Well, it looks like this is where you head up. I’m going to make my way up right over there.” Rachel pointed at a downed tree up ahead on the side of the road. “Wait here a few minutes until you can’t see me climbing anymore before you start walking, ok?” 

“I know the plan, Rachel, just hurry up. I’m dying to get out of this thing. It’s kind of itchy, you know?” She scratched at the lace trim on the neckline, pulling it away from her chest. Rachel felt her face heat up at the action. 

“Alright! I’ll- we- let’s get this show on the road!” She stumbled as she hurried away. 

Once she had reached the downed tree, she looked back to where Quinn was waiting at the mouth of the path. She was giving Rachel a quizzical look and still fiddling with the lace of her dress. Rachel let out a strained laugh, waved and turned to start climbing up the hillside. 

The next time she looked back, she couldn’t see the spot where she’d left Quinn standing and knew she must be on her way up now too. She clambered onto a tall rock and leapt over a 3-foot gap between it and the next, finally getting close enough to look over the entrance of the cave. 

From her place perched upon a high rock, she had a clear view of most of the clearing and the path leading to it. She could see the bandit standing by the cooking fire, warming his hands. Quietly, she reached back, snaking an arrow out of her quiver and readying her bow. She watched him for a few moments before she noticed movement on the rocky path; Quinn was approaching. Rachel watched as she plastered a pained smile on her face and came around the bend, walking slowly toward the bandit. 

Rachel looked on as his head shot up, noticing Quinn coming toward him. She could see his mouth moving, speaking to her, but she was too far away to hear what he was saying. Quinn was approaching him hesitantly, her hand coming up to play with the collar of her dress again. No, Rachel thought, not playing with it, pulling it lower to show more of her chest. The bandit smiled wide and stepped closer, reaching out as if to touch her shoulder. 

Suddenly, she heard the distinct creak of a board under foot. Rachel snapped her eyes towards where the noise had come from. Close to the mouth of the cave, on the upper level of the clearing, she saw her, an archer; her bow half drawn, aiming at Quinn. Rachel quickly drew her bow back, sinking an arrow cleanly into the back of the archer's neck, her own arrow released and landed in the dirt a few feet in front of her as she crumpled. Rachel pulled another arrow off her back and nocked it. 

The bandit spun around, looking up towards the thud of her body hitting the floor. Quinn was close to him, but Rachel was confident in her ability and released the shot. The arrow slotted itself through his left eye before he could even register what had happened to his companion; his body falling to the ground with a heavy thump. 

“Holy shit, Rachel! That was incredible!” Quinn shouted up to where Rachel was still perched. “Where the hell did that bitch come from?” She gestured to the archer sprawled out on the upper level. 

Rachel started climbing down from her post. “She must have been lurking just inside the mouth of the cave.” She leaped down from the last rock, hitting the ground with a thunk, as Quinn disappeared from view; stepping into a small cover under where Rachel was now standing. 

“Hey, Rach, you can pick locks, right?” Quinn shouted from beneath her. 

“Of course, I can, I’m a thief, Quinn.” She knelt down and reached her hand into the dead archer’s quiver, refilling her own. “Why, what’d you find down there?” 

Quinn was already dragging a large chest into view. It was a rather plain wooden chest with a large padlock swinging from the front. 

“Here, come get this thing open while I take this stupid dress off and search this idiot.” She kicked at the bandit's body roughly. She reached her hand back behind her, grasped the back of the collar, and began pulling the dress up and off her body. 

Rachel jumped off the small ledge onto the chest waiting below. She straddled the thing and began picking at the lock, looking away from where Quinn stood, shirtless and wrestling with the small pouch she was trying to wrench from the bandit’s hip. 

After several moments, the lock clicked and the shackle popped up. Rachel hopped off the lid and pushed it open revealing several coin pouches, a studded armor chest piece, and some assorted clothing. She scooped up the pouches and let the lid slam closed again. Kneeling in front of the chest, she opened each pouch and poured the coins in a pile on its flat top. 

“We’ve got about 50 gold here, Quinn. You find anything on him?” She nodded her head toward the body in front of Quinn, who was now fully dressed. 

“Couple coins, a lockpick, a silver chain, and two slightly bruised apples.” She looked from her hands holding the loot to Rachel’s face. “Want one?” 

Before Rachel could answer, Quinn had tossed the fruit in her direction. She just barely caught it before it hit the ground beside her. She smiled at Quinn and took a small bite as the taller girl was biting into her own apple. 

They finished their fruit in comfortable silence, save for the sound of chewing and happy humming from Rachel. When they were done, they threw the apple cores into the fire and finished looking around. They didn’t find anything else of note and packed up any other food they found. Once they were done, they stood facing the entrance of the cave. 

\--- 

There was a man sitting just inside the first room they came to as they entered. Quinn watched Rachel creep toward him and assumed she was going to kill him, but instead she hit him over the head with the back end of her dagger, knocking him unconscious. 

“What the hell, Rachel?” Quinn whispered harshly at her, moving forward and looking at the now slumped over old man. 

“He’s blind, look.” Rachel pulled up on the man's eyelid to show her the milky white sphere beneath it. “I couldn’t just kill him.” 

Quinn scoffed, “Yeah well, if he wakes up and attacks us, I’m blaming you, dwarf.” Rachel gave her a look of mocked dejection. 

“I can assure you; I am not a dwemer, Quinn.” She held her arm up in front of Quinn’s face. “Can’t you see my skin isn’t nearly pale enough.” She ran her finger down Quinn’s bare bicep. “You could pass for sure though.” She giggled in an airy way that made Quinn break out in a smile. She nudged the shorter girl's shoulder with her elbow and chuckled. 

“Come on, Rachel; we’ve got some bandits to kill.” Quinn started making her way up the wooden steps before them, with Rachel following close behind. 

Quinn crouched low as Rachel all but disappeared into the shadows beside her. They could hear two muffled voices coming from the open area up ahead. Quinn looked to where Rachel was crouched and signaled for her to have her back. 

Slowly, Quinn crept closer to the voices. She peaked her head around the doorway and spotted two bandits; one clearly dressed in mage’s robes, and the other was surely a swordsman. She took a deep, calming breath and rose to her feet, gripping her warhammer firmly. With one last glance toward Rachel, who had made her way to the opening to cover her; Quinn rushed forward, catching the swordsman off guard with a downward swing to the back. 

She swung up on her hammer and brought it down again onto the crumpled man in front of her, a sickening crunch giving her all the information she needed to move forward. 

Her eyes locked on the mage who had taken two steps back. Before she could react, a wave of red and orange flames surrounded her, tickling the skin of her cheeks. She made a mental note to thank Rachel again for the fire suppression necklace as she stepped forward and connected her hammer with the mages outstretched arms. 

She was rearing her weapon back again when a flash of color passed before her, followed by a wet thud. At her feet lay a bloody mess of limbs; an archer, two arrows sticking out of her chest, had landed atop the mage. 

Quinn took a quick look around before turning back to where Rachel had just emerged from the shadows and was now making her way toward a dirty chest in the corner. 

“Let’s move quickly; if someone heard, they’ll be alerting the rest.” Quinn started toward the upper level, but turned her head to speak again quietly, “We’ll have plenty of time for looting once we clear this place out.” Rachel nodded in agreement and followed her up and out, into the passageway at the far side of the room. 

As they come around a corner in the passage, Quinn noticed Rachel’s face soften; following her gaze, she spoted a grungy, red lute resting next to a cupboard. A gruff voice caught her attention and they both sunk low into the shadows, inching closer to hear better. 

“You think it'll work?” 

A second voice replied, “Course not. Dogs I could train. But a half-starved wolf? Not a chance.” 

"Right. Lucky if it doesn't rip our throats out." 

Quinn inched forward, spotting a chain with a handle on the cave wall a few feet ahead of them. She pointed toward it to show Rachel, but as she turns to look at the smaller girl, Rachel reached out and gave it a forceful tug. Quinn heard a clang and low screech of metal rubbing together up ahead, followed by the snapping of teeth and a deep cry from one of the bandits. “Get this fucking thing off me!” 

Quinn hurried forward in time to see a large wolf sink its teeth into the throat of the bandit it was on top of. Several arrows rained down from above as the man not being attacked swung a mace at the beast. 

She gestured up at the archers, but Rachel already had her bow drawn, trained up the narrow shaft. Lifting her warhammer over her shoulder, Quinn charged toward the remaining bandit; the wolf lay twitching, it’s jaws still wrapped around the bloody throat. 

She brought the hammer down hard on his right shoulder, forcing him to drop his mace at the blow. Rearing back as if to strike again, she faked him out and kicked him in the left kneecap, dropping him to the floor. She could hear the twang of an arrow being released behind her; Rachel must be close to her back to get a better angle on the archers above. 

The bandit at her feet tries to shove off the ground, having grabbed his mace with his left hand. Quinn steps forward, crushing his outstretched fingers under her right boot and bringing her hammer down a final time into the top of his head. 

She looked up quickly as Rachel spoke, “I got them both.” 

Quinn turned her head to Rachel with a smile. “We’re pretty good together, huh?” 

A pink tinge spread across Rachel’s now beaming face. “Yeah, I guess we are.” She looked down at the mess of wolf and man at their feet. “Poor wolf though, I thought he’d be able to at least fight off these two.” She gestured to the dead bandits. 

“Poor wolf? Rach, we would’ve had to kill it anyways. You know it would attack us too, right?” Quinn chuckled darkly. 

“Well... at least it died free. I can’t stand when people lock animals up like that. No doubt to be used as a weapon, or for sport.” She crossed her arms over her chest with a scowl on her face. 

“You are really something else, Rachel.” Quinn shook her head in amusement “I guess I’ll forgive you this time for trying to kill us.” She headed toward the path winding around the room to upper exit of the cave, Rachel coming up alongside her after a couple of strides. 

They made their way to the rear exit of the cave cautiously, stepping over the two dead archers as they went. 

As they crept toward the sunlight pouring into the cave’s opening, Rachel pulled ahead of Quinn, reaching the outside a moment before her. 

Quinn felt Rachel’s hand against her chest to stop her forward movement. Rachel gave her a pointed look as if to say ‘Stay put’ and slunk out into the daylight. Quinn saw him then, an average sized man, dressed in full plate armor, body turned away from them, facing the beautiful view of Whiterun in the distance. 

She watched Rachel creep up behind him, pulling her dagger out of the holster on her calf. Silently, she rose to her full height, bringing the dagger up above her head. Just as she was about to bring the blade across his throat, the man spun around and swung a dagger of his own at Rachel. 

Quinn cried out in shock; there was blood, and both Rachel and the bandit leader fell to the ground. She pulled her own dagger and ran over, crouching over the two huddled forms. She could tell right away that the bandit was not moving, a steady stream of blood poured out from between his helmet and chest plate. She tucked the dagger back into its holster; it looked like Rachel had hit her target after all. 

She could see Rachel squirming under his limp body, so she gave it a good shove, pushing him off of her. 

“Rach, are you ok?” Quinn grabbed her face and turned it back and forth, searching for any wounds; then moved down to her arms to examine them as well. “Shit, he got you here,” She gripped her left arm, “above your bracer.” 

“I’m sure it’s not that bad, let me just get up and we can-hmf” Rachel attempted to sit up but Quinn pushed her back down lightly by her shoulder. 

“Shh, I’m fixing it, just lay there a second.” She tore a scrap of fabric off the tail of her under shirt and tied it firmly around the wound, making Rachel wince. “There, that’ll stop the bleeding, and I’m sure we’ll find some healing potion to pour over it when we loot the cave.” 

“Thank you, Quinn.” Rachel smiled warmly at her. 

For a moment, Quinn stared at Rachel’s face. Without thinking, she ran her finger along the scar on her face. Rachel’s eyes widened slightly, causing Quinn to snap back to herself; standing up abruptly and grabbing onto Rachel’s uninjured arm, pulling her up from where she lay. 

“C’mon, shorty, let’s get to work.” She knelt down next to the body and began rummaging through his pockets. Rachel stood there for a moment, looking at her, before making her way to the chest nearby, pulling a lockpick out of her bag.


	4. Heist and Homeland

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter came out in tiny bursts of 300 words or less several times a day this week, but I made it work! Hope you enjoy it.  
> ~M

“What if I shoot the carriage driver, then signal you with a fireball?” Rachel stretched her legs out closer to the fire. 

“You can’t just stay up there, what if there’s a bunch of guys? This is a pretty expensive delivery to make without defense.” Quinn slowly stirred the cauldron of vegetable soup hanging from the fire’s spit. “I’m willing to bet there’ll be four or five of them.” 

Rachel laughed, shaking her head, “There’s no way they would need five men, that’s quite an expensive journey regardless of the shipment’s contents.” She leaned back, right elbow resting on the ground behind her. “Besides, I’ll just run through the cave and catch up with you. It’ll be like a sneak attack. One second there’s just you out there swinging, then arrows start raining out of nowhere.” She grinned to herself as though she was the smartest elf on the plant. “I think it’s a brilliant idea!” 

Quinn looked away from her, inspecting the pheasant roast she was preparing for herself. “Yeah, you would think it’s brilliant.” She let out a chuckle, “You know your brilliant plan earlier got you sliced, you remember that, right?” 

Rachel let out a frustrated huff, “Well, I don’t see you coming up with anything better.” She glanced down at her injured left arm, “And it’s almost healed, look.” She leaned forward and raised her outstretched arm. Quinn could see the raised red line running parallel to the crook of her elbow. It looked considerably better thanks to the healing potion they found while looting the cleared cave. 

By the time they started looting, they’d forgotten all about the blind man, and were quite startled when they found him stumbling around, dagger in hand. Quinn nearly swung at him when Rachel grabbed the handle of her hammer and easily plucked the dagger right out of his hands before giving him a quick blow over the head to knock him out again. 

Quinn only suggested leaving him in the wolf cage at Rachel’s insistence on keeping him alive. Of course, she made sure they left plenty of food in the cage with him as well; though Quinn figured he would have been able to survive the next 30 hours without it. 

“...don’t even think you’re listening to me.” 

Quinn shook her head and snapped her eyes up to Rachel. “I’m sorry, what?” 

“Are you serious, Quinn? I’m trying to come up with a plan you actually find suitable, and you’re just over here daydreaming? What, did you find some ale while we were looking around earlier? Too drunk to concentrate on a simple conversation?” Rachel crossed her arms over her chest. “You really should be paying better attention or you’re going to miss an important part and get yourself, or worse, me killed! I think you don’t even want us to be successful on this adventure, I think you’d be happy if we failed.” 

“Oh, is that what you think? You know, you really should be a little nicer to the person who is cooking your dinner right now! I have half a mind to just toss this pheasant in the stew and keep it all to myself.” Quinn shifted her eyes from the bird, to the pot, to Rachel, and back to the bird again several times. “Your arm is basically healed anyways, right? I should have just let you cook for yourself in the first place.” 

“Are you really that petty? You’re gonna eat a whole cauldron of pheasant stew in one night so that I’ll have to cook my own supper?” 

“Actually, I’m going to eat what I want, have more in the morning, and then let whatever’s left rot in the bottom.” A small smile played at the corners of her lips. Despite her words, Quinn had yet to make a move to put the meat into the pot she was still absently stirring. 

“You are utterly infuriating, Quinn-” Rachel paused and pinched her face in thought, “Quinn...” She blew out a frustrated puff of air, “Wait, why don’t I know your family name?” 

“Well for one, you never asked, and two, I don’t really care for you to know.” Quinn finally stopped stirring and grasped the cauldron’s chain, pulling it off the spit and setting it on the table they’d dragged up by the fire. She adjusted the pheasant on the spit and gave it a half turn before directing her attention back to Rachel. 

“How am I supposed to express how infuriating you are if I can’t even address you properly?” Her face displayed nothing but sincerity at the question. Quinn figured she had to be acting, nobody could be this serious about something so silly. 

“Wow, you really are something else, aren’t you?” She couldn’t help but laugh. 

Rachel stamped her foot on the ground, “Well, what if I tell you mine first? Then you can go, and we’ll both know.” 

Quinn rolled her eyes, “You think I’m concerned with your family name? Why would I even want to know that?” 

“What if I were to get lost? You’d need to find me and you can’t just hang missing posters with only a first name; no one would even know who you were looking for.” Rachel gave her an exasperated look. 

Quinn barked out a laugh, “If you went missing, it’d be my lucky day! I’d be celebrating at the nearest pub within the hour.” She shook her head in amusement and watched Rachel’s mouth turn downward at the ends. “Besides, All I would have to put on the flyer is ‘Missing: Extremely short elf, Name: Rachel, Description: Short, dark hair, tiny, dark eyes, small, sings entirely too much.’ Someone would have you back to me before I was half way through my first drink.” 

Quinn made a small cut in the pheasant to check the meat. Satisfied, she slid it off the spit onto a wooden plate and began slicing pieces off from it. 

While she busied herself with the bird, she heard a small sniffle from the girl in front of her. Looking up, she realized Rachel was actually crying; apparently that last morose expression wasn’t acting. 

“What the hell, Rach? I was just joking. We’re a team now, remember?” She dropped the knife in her hand and moved toward the elf, crouching to be at eye level with her. She placed her hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently, trying to get Rachel to look up at her. 

Rachel’s sholders shook once, twice before a small sound escaped her lips, followed by another. Quinn quickly realized it was the sound of Rachel suppressing a laugh as a smirk started spreading across her mouth. She finally lifted her head to look at Quinn, unable to hold back the laughter any longer. Quinn could only sit and look at her, brow furrowed, thoroughly confused. 

Rachel laughed heartily for a few more seconds before calming enough to speak, “Ha! You admitted it: We are a team!” Quinn’s mouth dropped open at her words, “And being a good teammate means actually listening to me explain my plan. Then we can figure out together what will work best for us as a team.” 

Quinn crossed her arms over her chest, finally standing from her crouched position next to Rachel. “I can’t believe you actually pretended to cry just to beguile me like that.” She turned away to hide the evidence of her barely suppressed smile. “I don’t know if that was very good teammate behavior, Rachel.” 

A grin fully broke out onto her face as she turned back around to face Rachel who was grinning right back at her. After several seconds of this smiling standoff, they both devolved into a fit of giggles, which lasted a full minute before slowly coming to a stop. 

Quinn looked away from elf several moments after the laughter stopped; heading back to finish preparing their dinner. 

Rachel pushed herself off the cave floor and walked to the other side of the room to retrieve two wooden chairs; dragging them back over to the table Quinn was working at. 

Quinn looked up as she was dragging the second chair into place. “Thanks, Rach.” 

“You’re welcome.” Rachel unfolded a rag and gingerly laid it over her lap. 

Quinn ladled the stew into two bowls, pushing one in front of the chair Rachel was now occupying, before adding a couple hearty slices of pheasant to her own. Sitting in her chair, she noticed Rachel about to take a bite. 

“Wait!” She nearly shouted, causing Rachel to drop her spoon back into her bowl with a small splash. “We have to thank the Divines before we can eat.” 

Rachel briefly gave her a puzzled look, then smiled, “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were so devout, Quinn. I would be happy to share this religious tradition with you.” 

Quinn smiled back at her, reaching out to grab her hand over the tale. “Ok, now close your eyes.” Rachel followed her direction and closed her eyes. Quinn looked at her for a second more before closing her own. 

“We thank the Divines today, the 21st day of Last Seed, for this bountiful meal they have blessed us with. We are grateful to Arkay, who breathes life into animal and plant alike, who takes life to gift life anew. We thank Kynareth for the earth, the water, the air, the sun, which is created perfectly for us; keeping us alive with drink and food and warmth. We praise the Divines for their gifts of this life and the life beyond us.” 

Quinn’s eyes fluttered open to see dark eyes already watching her, they widened and a light flush washed over her face. She quickly looked down into her bowl of food. 

“That was very eloquent, Quinn. I’m sure the Divines were quite pleased with a prayer like that one.” She picked up her spoon as her eyes flick up to Quinn’s, an almost shy smile on her lips. 

Quinn quirked her eyebrow at her and picked up her own utensil, “How about you tell me all the details of that brilliant plan you came up with while we eat?” 

\--- 

Quinn lay stretched out on her bedroll by the fire, elbow resting on the ground, propping her head up with her hand, “Fabray.” 

Rachel looked up from the lute she had been tuning for several minutes, confused, “What’s Fabray?” 

“My family name, it’s Fabray.” She looked over to where Rachel sat cross-legged, the lute resting in her lap, “And before you ask, yes, like the Fabray Delivery Company; it’s the family business.” she said rolling her eyes. 

“Your family owns the largest shipping company in Tamriel?” Rachel set the lute to her right side and shifted her body to face Quinn. “Your family owns the delivery cart we’re supposed to be raiding tomorrow? We’re about to rob one of the largest companies in the world and you’re just telling me now that you're kind of an owner?” The taller girl half shrugged as she turned her gaze back to the fire. 

“I never accepted my share when they offered me part of the business, so no, I’m not an owner; I don’t see what the issue here is.” She looked almost bored as she spoke. 

“You don’t see how this could turn out terribly, Quinn? What if one of those men gets away and recognizes you? We’ll be fugitives. How are we supposed to complete our mission as fugitives? I can’t go back to the dungeon! I won’t go back to the dungeon. We’re calling this whole thing off; I’d rather scrape by on what we can get from the bandits we run into on our way.” Rachel’s voice was rising in pitch as she spoke, she could feel a panic setting into her bones as her mind raced at all the terrifying possibilities. 

Quinn seemed to notice the shift in her, she had already sat up and scooted closer to her, facing her left side. “Rachel, relax.” She placed her hand on Rachel’s knee, trying to calm her. “There’s no way they could recognize me. There are dozens of depots around Skyrim. Unless this one is specifically coming from Dawnstar, and it is the same crew that worked for us there twelve years ago before I left home, then we’ll be completely fine.” Quinn smiled and added with a chuckle, “I’d like to think I look a fair bit different than I did when I was a teenager as well.” 

The panic in Rachel was soon forgotten as she processed Quinn’s words. “That does seem a rather slim chance once you put it that way.” 

Quinn patted her knee a couple times and nodded. “You know what I think? The plan we came up with together is foolproof; there’s no way any of those guys will get away, let alone run off and rat us out.” She crawled back over to her bedroll and sat down, mimicking Rachel’s crossed legs. 

“You’re probably right. We did come up with a pretty spectacular plan.” Rachel grinned as she grabbed the neck of the lute beside her, bringing it back into her lap. She fiddles with the tuning pegs for a few minutes before speaking again. “What’s Dawnstar like?” 

“Bitter cold; it snows nearly every night. I think it makes the people miserable, how cold it is.” Quinn absentmindedly rubbed her hands together and faced her palms toward the fire. “The coastline is littered with nightshade and spikey grass. I used to walk along the shore and collect them to trade with the sailors when they came to port for deliveries.” 

She brought her knees up in front of herself and rested her chin on them, “There’s this door that nobody talks about, to the east of the city, set into the cliff below the lighthouse. When I first discovered it, I must have been around 7 or 8, and my mother whipped me red when I asked her about it; told me to keep away or she’d tell my father next time.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she spoke, “That didn’t stop us of course. The other kids and I would dare each other to go to the door and press our palms against the handprint there. It would ask you a question then about life's greatest illusion or something like that; we would try to come up with the most ridiculous answers, and it would speak back to us ‘You are not worthy’ the same every time.” 

“Quinn?” She turned her head away from the fire for the first time since she started talking about her home, “That door, what else did it have on it? Was there a big skull?” 

“Uh, yeah, and a full skeleton, but kind of turned to the side, like it was sitting against the door frame. How did you know that?” Quinn looked at her with an odd expression on her face, a mix between disbelief and apprehension. 

“There’s a door just like that near Falkreath. I found it while I was foraging for ingredients to make dinner one afternoon.” Rachel closed her eyes, picturing the black pond and the tight circle of trees surrounding it. “It asked me something else though, ‘What is the music of life?’ but it replied the same as yours.” She opened her eyes again, “I never told my fathers about it, but I went back several times trying to answer that question.” 

“How bizarre; I wonder if there are more around Skyrim like that, asking different questions.” Quinn reached up behind her, feeling around for the wine bottle she knew was there on the table, “Or maybe all over Tamriel. That’s be something, huh? We should try to investigate if we get close by on our travels, and keep our eyes peeled for others.” She found the bottle and brought it to her lips, tipping her head back and taking a long sip. 

She handed the bottle over to Rachel who accepted it, brought it to her own mouth, and took a few swigs. “Absolutely.” Was all she could say in reply. 

Several minutes came and went, the two of them passing the bottle back and forth. 

Quinn’s voice cut through the silence, “So, I told you mine. Now you tell me yours.” 

Rachel let out a weak laugh, “Oh yeah.” She stuck her hand out in Quinn’s direction as if to shake her own, “Rachel Berry; I’m pleased to formally meet you.” 

Quinn barked out her own laugh and grabbed Rachel’s hand, giving it a firm shake. “The pleasure is all mine Ms. Berry.” She winked and dropped her hand, bringing it back a moment later filled with a wine bottle and handing it over to Rachel. 

\--- 

Quinn found herself reading by the mouth of the cave, sitting watch. They decided to sleep in shifts to make sure no other bandits showed up to join their comrades in the night. Rachel got to sleep first, and had been softly snoring by the fire for nearly two hours now. 

She looked away from her book to gaze up at the night sky. The Warrior shone bold in the sky to the east, under the moon. The Serpent hovered close by, a clear sign of a lurking threat. They would need to be very cautious as they continued on; the stars never told a lie. 

Just before she looked back down at the book in her lap, a streak of light passed from the Warrior’s blade, across the neck of the Serpent. Quinn smiled to herself, the Warrior was always looking out for them. 

She found where she’d left off in ‘The Third Door’ and continued reading. Only a couple more hours and she could go wake Rachel for her shift and get some much-needed rest. 

\--- 

Quinn was probably the most adorable sleeper Rachel had ever seen. She reminded her of the housecat she had as a child, all curled up with her hands tucked under her chin; the quiet snores she made in her sleep even sounded like purring. 

She hesitated a moment, just looking at her sleeping form, before gently grasping her shoulder and giving her a soft jostle. A low groan came from Quinn’s mouth as she buried her face in the blanket, scrunching her eyes and pouting. 

Rachel couldn’t keep the smile off her face at the action, “Rise and shine, sleepyhead. It’s time to greet the new day.” 

“Not gonna,” came muffled from the lump of blankets. 

“Don’t make me sing to you, Quinn. You know I will.” Rachel warned. 

“Not unless you wanna get tackled, shorty.” 

Rachel took a deep breath, “♬Lazy Bones, Sleeping in the sun. Can’t get your day’s work done. Lazy Bones in the sunshine. ♬” 

She turned to run as soon as she saw the blankets get thrown aside, but she was too slow; Quinn had her arms around her middle and was lifting her in the air before she even took two steps. 

Quinn tightened her grip around Rachel as she threw them both back onto her mess of blankets by the embers of last night’s fire. Tucking her into her front with one arm, she wrestled a blanket up over them both while Rachel tried fruitlessly to free herself. 

“You give me five more minutes, or I’ll force you to stay here with me for ten, it’s up to you.” Her breath tickled the hairs on the back of Rachel’s neck as she spoke. She stopped squirming instantly and relaxed her body against Quinn’s. 

It lasted just a moment before she loosened her grip to allow Rachel freedom. For a couple seconds, Rachel wondered whether she should stay tucked under the warm blankets with her, before shaking the thought from her head and extricating herself from the tangle of bedding and pale limbs. 

“You get five minutes, Quinn, and then I expect you to meet me up top. We need to run through the plan one more time before it’s time.” 

“Mmhmm” sounded from within the blanket nest. 

Rachel spent a couple more moments watching the rise and fall of Quinn's breathing within, before heading up to the lookout above the cave, readying herself for an eventful day ahead of them. 

\--- 

They looked between each other and the heap of flaming wood and bodies, wondering how this happened, out of all the possible scenarios. 

“Well, at least salt doesn’t melt.” Rachel peered into the flames and pointed to the metal urn just visible through one of the collapsing windows, “And they packaged them in urns, so we shouldn’t lose any product.” 

“Rachel, the whole wagon is on fire.” Quinn still couldn’t wrap her head around what she was seeing; and she had watched it all play out. 

She spotted the carriage a good distance away and sent up the fireball signal before jogging down the path toward the main road. As she ran, she could see something alight flying through the air toward the quickly moving cart. She didn’t understand why, but somehow, Rachel’s arrow had caught on fire somewhere between her bow and the delivery carriage. 

The fire spread instantly upon impact, the air rushing by with the speed of the cart feeding the fire faster. 

The blazing wagon raced toward her place on the road, the horse not yet being freed from its reigns dragging it along. She barely had time to think before making her decision and leaping up onto the horse’s back as it was passing by. 

With her dagger gripped firmly between her teeth, she turned around and gripped the leather binding, tethering the poor horse to the traveling inferno. In one quick swipe, she severed all of the straps and the horse began pulling away from the carriage which was already slowing down thanks to the wheels catching on fire. 

Quinn braced herself and rolled off the horse, aiming for the side of the road so she wouldn’t get run over by the flaming cart. Considering her speed, she landed fairly unscathed save for a long gravel burn down her right forearm. 

The cart came to a stop fifteen feet further down the path from where she landed, burning hot enough for her to feel the heat from where she lay. 

She heard the pounding of feet for several moments before she saw them stop in front of her face, her cheek still pressed firmly to the gravel beneath her. Rachel’s face came into view a beat later. She helped her off the ground and they headed over to what they assumed must be a funeral pyre. 

Their suspicion was confirmed moments later when the back door fell off and the bodies of two men could be seen inside. 

“I knew there wouldn’t be five of them.” Rachel remarked, almost smirking. 

Quinn was drawn out of her thoughts by Rachel’s reply. 

“Yes, Quinn, I know the whole thing’s on fire. It’s your fault, too.” Quinn turned shocked eyes toward her. 

“I’m sorry, but wasn’t it your arrow that did this?” She gestured wildly to the slowly dwindling flames in front of them. 

“Mhm, and it was your fire signal that caught my arrow on fire in the first place.” 

“Oh, and who’s idea was it to send fire signals to begin with, hmm? Also, weren’t you supposed to wait until you saw my signal to shoot?” Quinn put her hands on her hips, turning to fully face the shorter girl, trying to make herself seem more intimidating. 

“Why wait when I spotted them first and had a perfect shot lined up. If it hadn’t been for your fireball, the driver would have been dispatched instantly and you wouldn’t have had to jump on a racing horse.” Rachel mimicked Quinn’s pose, refusing to back down. 

“And if you had waited, we both know you still would have made the shot and I still wouldn’t have had to jump on a speeding horse to save it from burning to death.” Quinn took a step forward, closing the distance between the two of them by another foot and a half, until there was only a foot’s width between them. 

Suddenly, a booming pop erupted from the blaze next to them, causing them to both jump back in fear. Turning quickly on her toes, Quinn watched as the frame of the carriage cracked in half, breaking open at the top, resembling a flower in bloom. 

She turned her head to Rachel just as she was doing the same, and together they broke out in hysterical laughter. 

“Don’t suppose you know a frost spell so we can get those urns out before nightfall, do you?” Rachel questioned her between fits of laughter. 

Quinn signed and shook her head. “I’ll just head up and grab us a couple buckets, at least the river is right here; it should only take us a couple hours to cool them down enough to touch.”


	5. Map and Pebbles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically this is going up within the first few minutes of Monday morning, but I wanted to make sure this chapter was just right. I know this one is a bit fluffy but I'm setting up for an interesting next chapter. I was editing very lat s if you see any errors please let me know so I can edit. Thanks!  
> ~Mac

“All I’m saying is that we would be smart to let him sit in there until the next group of bandits shows up to occupy this cave.” Quinn stuffed one of the salt urns into a large sack on the table in front of her, “Opening that cage is a bad idea. For all we know, he could have been plotting our deaths silently the whole time we’ve been here.” 

“What if no other bandits come?” Rachel looked up from where she was tying a strip of leather to the lute she had been playing last night, “He’ll starve to death, Quinn. It’ll be his blood on our hands.” 

“You mean like the blood of the numerous other people we’ve killed over the past two days?” Quinn gave Rachel a pointed look. 

“That’s not the same, he’s an innocent blind man.” Rachel gave the leather strip a firm tug to make sure it was secure. Satisfied with her knot, she leaned the instrument against the wall behind her next to a small satchel filled with all of the alchemy ingredients she had collected throughout the cave. 

“Need I remind you of the smoldering wagon right outside?” Quinn held another of the metal urns up, tipping it in Rachel’s direction. “I’m pretty sure those men were innocent.” 

“We had to do that to ensure our survival.” Rachel shuffled to her right, inching closer to the chain that would open the cage door. 

“Look, he’s not automatically innocent just because he’s blind. He was with those bandits before, that makes him just as bad as they are in my book.” Quinn set the urn back down on the table and took three long strides, closing the distance between the two of them. “I still think we should have killed him when we first got to this place.” 

“I’m letting him go whether you like it or not, Quinn.” Rachel reached her hand out for the chain, but before she could grasp ahold of it, Quinn grabbed her wrist and pulled it away. Spinning them both around, she made herself a barrier between Rachel and the wall. 

“Fine, ok? But we aren’t even fully prepared to leave yet. We need to finish packing and you need to get out of here before I open it. We can’t let both of us get killed if he’s been plotting.” 

“How will I know you actually opened it and didn't just leave him trapped in there? Or that you didn’t open it and just killed him immediately?” Rachel pulled her hand out of Quinn’s grasp, “No, I think I’ll be the one who lets him out, thank you very much.” 

“What, you don’t trust me?” Quinn smirked at her; one eyebrow arched. 

“It’s only fair; you don’t trust me either, you said so yourself.” Rachel furrowed her brow and attempted to reach around her. 

Quinn stepped into her, “Yeah, and clearly that’s with good reason.” She laughed, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and pinning her arms to her sides. Walking forward, she took them farther away from the chain with each step. “Didn’t I say we should wait till we’re all packed up?” 

Rachel couldn't help but giggle lightly as she struggled futilely to free herself from Quinn’s grasp. She continued to be led backward; another two steps and she felt the table pressed against her lower back. 

“Let me go!” She shrieked as Quinn tightened her grasp around her, pressing Rachel firmly into her front as she continued trying to free herself. 

“Not until you promise me you won't let him out before we’re ready.” Rachel tipped her head back to look Quinn in the face and realized it was now just inches from her own. She stopped struggling as Quinn’s eyes met hers; feeling as though all the air had been swept from the room. 

The smile dropped from her face as she opened her mouth to speak, closing it again when words refused to come out. An odd sensation washed over her as she watched Quinn’s tongue poke out to wet her lips. 

She barely noticed the arms around her loosening as Quinn brought her head down slightly, leaving barely an inch between their faces; close enough to feel warm breath mingling with her own. 

Quite suddenly, Rachel felt the stabbing pain against her cheekbone. “God damnit, what the hell was that?” Her hand shot up to cup her face as they heard what sounded like a rock hitting the stone floor. 

Quinn whipped around, trying to find the sorce of the projectile; dagger ready in hand. They both froze in place when they heard a man’s voice come from the other end of the room. 

“Did I finally get one of you?” Turning toward the cage where the man they had been fighting over was trapped, they finally noticed him leaning against the bars, a small pile of pebbles in his left hand. “I didn't think you’d ever shut the hell up.” Dropping the pile of stones, they scattered across the floor in front of the cage door. 

“I’ve been listening to the two of you bickering and fighting since you got here. Only peace I get is when one of you is asleep and even then, you both snore.” 

Quinn turned to Rachel; a questioning look on her face. “Do I really snore?” 

“Well, it’s more of a sort of purring, like a kitty.” Quinn’s face pinched into a scowl, “But, you know, like a really fierce, dangerous, mountain lion kind of kitty!” Rachel hurried out, reaching over to squeeze Quinn’s bicep placatingly. 

“If you'd let me continue, ladies?” Rachel dropped her hand and turned her attention back to the caged man. 

“Sorry, uh... blind man, sir” She felt her face heat with embarrassment. 

“The name’s Ulfr, Ulfr the Blind; but that’s not all I am, and I would appreciate if you’d stop basing your decision of whether or not to kill me on the fact that I can’t see you.” He gripped the bars of the cage door with both hands. “You want to know if I’m innocent? Innocent of what? I’ve been a bandit my whole life if that is the deciding factor. My parents blinded me when I was a small boy for misbehaving. When the bandits came and killed them, I was overjoyed; never knew a minute of kindness in that hellish home.” 

Out of the corner of her eye, Rachel noticed Quinn wince at his words. 

“They decided to spare me; not even a bandit could kill a tiny, blind child.” He paused and scratched the side of his head. “They brought me back to their camp and sat me down in front of the Chief. He yelled at them a fair bit before questioning me; asked me about these scars here.” He reached up and touched the scars around his milky eyes, “When I finished telling him my story, he just wrapped me up in a large pelt and lead me to his tent to sleep.” 

“So, yes, I’ve lived my life as a bandit. I’ve killed and pillaged and done what I needed to do to survive and keep my family alive. If that makes me guilty, you can kill me right now.” A pleasant smile crossed his lips, “But I’ve got a boy, in Rorikstead; and grandchildren as well. If you let me go, I’ll hire the carriage outside of Whiterun to take me there.” 

Rachel turned to Quinn, tears welling in her eyes. 

“Are you kidding me, Rachel? You actually believed that bullshit story?” Rachel looked at her in disbelief. 

She slapped her bicep, “Of course I did, Quinn! We are letting him go!” Another slap, “Go get another bag, we’re giving him supplies for his journey!” 

Quinn gave her a confused look and continued standing there in front of her. “You’re serious?” 

“Of course, I’m serious! Now go!” Rachel pointed behind her toward the passage between this room and the next. 

Quinn scurried off in the direction she’d pointed as Rachel turned back to Ulfr, smiling, “Tell me about your son and grandchildren; what are their names?” 

\--- 

Quinn laughed internally as she watched Rachel wave goodbye to Ulfr. Once he was out of hearing distance, she lost her composure; the laughter bubbling out of her loudly. 

“He’s blind, Rach, he can’t see you.” 

Rachel turned to her, scowling, “I know that, Quinn. I was simply being polite; a skill you certainly haven’t quite mastered.” 

Pulling the final bag over her shoulder, Quinn began walking in the opposite direction from Ulfr. “So, asking super invasive questions about how exactly your own parents blinded you is polite now, huh?” 

Rachel scrambled to get her lute slung across her body; the sound of vibrating strings meeting Quinn’s ears, now ten feet ahead of her. Once she got the instrument securely attached to her body, she had to jog to catch up. 

Finally, she stepped up beside her and ignored her previous comment, “Waiting for me would have been polite too, you know?” 

“Oh, I know.” Quinn turned her head and smirked at her. “I just didn’t feel like it.” 

Rachel let out a huff and stomped a few feet ahead, mumbling to herself as she went. Shaking her head in amusement, Quinn reached around her back into the front pocket of the knapsack she was carrying. After a few seconds, she found what she was looking for and pulled out a heavily creased and worn map. 

Flattening it out as best she could, she began tracing out a path with her pointer finger. If they stuck to the road, barring any setbacks, it should only take them about two days to make it to Riften. 

Up ahead, she saw Rachel bent over, plucking the heads off a bunch of blue mountain flowers. Rolling her eyes, she called out to her, “Hey, shorty, if you keep this up, it’ll take us a week to get half way to Riften.” Three steps later, she was side by side with the elf again. 

“Would you rather me leave these all behind and not be able to make us any health potions once these run out?” She lifted the flap of the side bag she was wearing, revealing the four cork stopped bottles within. Finally looking up from the massacred flower plant, Rachel’s eyes locked on the large paper in Quinn’s hand. “Is that the map? Let me see it.” She went to grab the map, but Quinn pulled it out of her reach at the last second. 

“No way; if you wanted a map, you should have brought your own.” She folded the map back up and shoved it down the front of her chest plate, nestling it between her breasts. 

Without missing a beat, Rachel grabbed the neck of Quinn’s armor, pulling her forward enough for her to reach her hand into her shirt, despite Quinn’s attempt to remove it. She quickly closed her fingers around the worn paper and slipped it out. 

Quinn was stood there with her mouth agape; a dark pink painting her cheeks. Had that really just happened? She attempted to regulate her breathing as she watched Rachel happily unfold the map and continue walking. After a beat, her legs started moving again and she quickly caught up with her. 

“We should probably camp right around here.” Rachel pointed at a spot on the map, “It’s just after we cross the bridge before Fort Amol.” 

“You don’t get to make all the decisions just because you’re holding the map, you know.” Quinn kept her eyes pinned to the place where her finger touched the paper. 

“Ok, where do you think is better to set up?” Rachel shifted the map to the left in front of Quinn. 

She rubbed the back of her neck as her eyes scanned along the path they were headed. The only logical place to stop would be right where Rachel had already pointed out. 

“I never said it was a bad spot; that’s really the only suitable place around where we’ll need to stop for the night. I’m just reminding you that we should be agreeing as a team on how to proceed.” Rachel let out a contemplative hum and refolded the map. 

“And I’m sure you would have thought the same had you still had possession of this?” She waved the folded paper back and forth in front of Quinn’s face before following her lead and slipping the page down the front of her shirt. 

Quinn watched as her fingers reappeared out of her top and nodded several times, shooting Rachel a cheeky grin, “Of course, I would. I take our teamwork very seriously.” 

\--- 

Quinn arranged stones in a circle on the bare patch of ground she knelt in front of. “Rachel, it’s been hours; the sun is going down in less than forty minutes, aren’t you tired of singing yet?” 

“I seem to remember you praising my talents when we were passing Valtheim Towers earlier.” Rachel adjusted the support rope of the tent she was assembling. 

“Well, it was pretty impressive how you annoyed that bandit so much she made us leave without even paying their ridiculous toll.” Quinn looked up from the short sticks she was placing within the stone circle, “But then you continued singing for another four hours after.” 

“Alright, fine. I suppose my voice could use a rest anyway.” With a final tug on the knot in her hands, the tent stood sturdily in front of her. “I can enjoy a nice silence. Lots of things to think about when it’s quiet; plenty of space for the mind to wander, uninterrupted. Just the sounds of the river flowing and the birds chirping. I find it rather relaxing, honestly, and-” 

Quinn cut her off before she could continue, “You sure have a lot to say out loud about being quiet.” She placed the last branch in the stack and cast a tiny fire spell into the pile, catching the kindling in center almost immediately. 

Rachel felt a tingle of heat cross her cheeks as she snapped her mouth closed. “Oh, right. Sorry.” She gave Quinn an embarrassed smile and knelt down to unhook the bedrolls from the bottom of her knapsack. 

They continued to set up camp listening to the rushing of the nearby river. 

\--- 

Quinn lay on her back on the ground, the crackling fire to her left, soaking up its warmth and gazing up at the night sky. Rachel was lounged behind her nearby, back propped up by a large sack, reading a book. 

“Hey, Rach; you see that really bright start right up there?” Quinn pointed up, to the east, “That’s actually the planet Julianos, also known as the Eye of the Sage. Those other stars around him,” She gestured to the group of stars, making invisible lines between them, “Make up the Mage constellation.” 

Rachel pushed the sack out from under her and laid flat on her back, her head resting right beside Quinn’s. “Show me.” She spoke quietly as she raised her left arm, pointing in the direction Quinn had gestured to. 

Quinn grabbed her wrist gently with her right hand and shifted it to Julianos. Starting there, she led her hand around, drawing the lines between the stars, slowly giving shape to the Mage. Quinn kept ahold of her wrist for several moments after the final line was drawn, releasing it when a louder than average pop came from the fire beside their heads. 

“We should probably go to sleep; we’ve still got a long day of walking ahead of us tomorrow.” Quinn sat up and brushed some sand out of her hair. 

“Thats probably the best Idea you’ve had all day.” Rachel giggled as Quinn turned giving her a mock look of offence. 

Standing up, Quinn stuck her hand out to help Rachel off the ground, “Come on, Berry. Let's get some sleep.” Rachel gathered her book from beside her and grabbed the offered hand. 

They settled into their bedrolls; Quinn felt Rachel’s arm press against her own as she tried to get comfortable. She smiled into the darkness. 

Their first real day of travel had been a success, maybe things were going to start running smoothly from here on out; it was the last thought that passed through Quinn’s mind as she drifted off.


End file.
